


Of Hens and Hairpins

by Chie (Chierafied)



Series: Drabblers one shots HP [12]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Damsels in Distress, F/M, First Meetings, Handcuffs, Humor, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Party Games, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 01:03:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6065005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chierafied/pseuds/Chie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily had to keep calm. Descending into hysteria would do her no good, even if she had every good reason to panic; she was lost and alone and pissed to boot – and then there were the handcuffs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Hens and Hairpins

The hairpin rolled clumsily between her fingers and then dropped with a small _clink_ onto the cobbled street.

“Bugger,” Lily grumbled heartily, and then for a good measure, added, “shit.”

She wrung her hands helplessly, and glared down at the handcuffs gleaming faintly in the pale light of the streetlamp.

She shook her head, trying to clear away the giddily bubbling buzz, and fell into a crouch, rocking on her high heels. She stared at the dark uneven stones, trying desperately to find her dark metal hairpin.

“Bugger,” Lily muttered again, but her voice lacked its earlier conviction. She buried her face in her hands and took a deep, trembling breath. She had to keep calm. Descending into hysteria would do her no good, even if she had every good reason to panic; she was lost and alone and pissed to boot – and then there were the handcuffs.

Lily moaned pitifully and took another gulp of air. Calm. Perfectly calm. She could do this. She had been through worse, probably… Just breathe, in and out…

“You all right there, miss?” a politely puzzled voice asked from right behind her.

Lily blinked at the shadow that had fallen over her and stubbornly stared at the ground.

“I’m fine,” she said, though her voice sounded shrill even to her own ears. “Or at least I will be, as soon as I find my hairpin and kill Dorcas Meadowes.”

A brief, stunned silence followed her declaration, until the concerned stranger burst into laughter.

It was a pleasant sound, rich and warm, and Lily turned to peek over her shoulder.

She had to crane her neck to see the hazel eyes twinkling at her from under a careless mess of dark hair. He had stuffed his hands in his pockets, and his thin lips were twisted in a crooked grin.

“Quite creative, committing murder with a hairpin. Sounds like messy business, too.”

“As long as it does the job I’ll be happy,” Lily quipped.

“You need help?”

He offered his hand to pull her up and she stared at it, gnawing at her lip. Her fingers twitched, and the movement seemed to draw his eyes.

“Are those handcuffs?!” he plopped down next to her.

“Er, yeah,” Lily admitted. Her cheeks flushed at having been caught in such an embarrassing situation. He was so close her shoulder was almost brushing against his arm.

“I’m sensing a story here,” he said, his eyes laughing behind his glasses.

“The oldest story in the book,” Lily said, unable to turn away her gaze. “Hen night gone wrong.”

“Intriguing. I want to hear all about it, but first things first: Why are we squatting on the side of the street?”

“Because I dropped my hairpin.”

“Ah, it’s all coming together.” He pulled a phone out of his coat pocket and bright light washed over the cobblestones. “There!”

He handed the hairpin to her and she accepted it with quickly mumbled thanks before she once again tried to jab the pin into the lock of her handcuffs. It wasn’t going too well, she was having trouble bending her hand into the right angle.

He watched her with growing amusement, and finally brushed his messy hair away from his eyes and cleared his throat.

“Allow me.” He flashed her a roguish grin. He took the hairpin from her and with quick, expert movements, picked the lock of the handcuffs in under twenty seconds.

“Wow, thanks.” Lily rubbed her wrists and blinked at him.

“Now then,” he said, winding his arm around her shoulders and pulling her up. She stumbled a little, noticing for the first time that her legs were aching. “Fill me in. Where are all your mates and what’s with the handcuffs?”

“It was Dorcas’ idea. It was supposed to be a fun party game, a treasure hunt of sorts.”

“You mean… you all put on handcuffs and went on for a quest of freedom?”

“Yeah, we were supposed to find the key together and it was fun – up until the point where I had to pop in a loo real quick.”

“And got separated?”

Lily nodded. “They had left the pub by the time I was out and so I went after them but took a wrong turn at some point. And of course, with all the pictures and video clips I was taking earlier I killed the battery on my phone so I couldn’t call them and… Here we are.”

“Well at least you have your freedom,” he offered, ruffling his hair.

“Thanks to you,” she grimaced. “I’m Lily Evans, by the way.”

She offered him her hand and he shook it, his skin warm against her cold fingertips.

“James Potter. Delighted to meet you. Also, I love your shirt.”

Lily had forgotten all about her shirt, and blinked down at the outrageously pink affair that bore the bold _Team Alice_ print on the back.

“Thanks.”

“Now then,” James rubbed his hands and smiled jovially at her. “We’ve found your hairpin and got you out of the cuffs. I’m guessing the next item on our list is reuniting you with your mates and committing heinous murder.”

Lily’s lips twitched, but she shook her head.

“Oh no, you’ve already been such a huge help, I couldn’t possibly –”

“I insist. I’m really curious how you’re going to off anyone with a hairpin.”

He winked, and the laughter she had been fighting finally tore free.

“All right then,” she managed in between her giggles. “Let’s go.”

 

 

 


End file.
